The price of Alpaca Finance’s token (ALPACA) rocketed by more than 1,400% over the past week and is top around 415% over the last 24-hour period after Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, announced plans to delist the cryptocurrency.
The token, which had been trading for pennies just days earlier, jumped above $1 for the first time since 2021, according to CoinMarketCap data. Binance’s delisting notice, set to take effect May 2, initially sent the price tumbling, a typical reaction when an asset is removed from a major exchange due to the anticipated drop in liquidity and investor access.
But then things flipped. According to social media posts and trading analysis, traders may have overcommitted to shorting ALPACA after the delisting news, betting the price would continue to fall.
When the decline stalled, those same traders were forced to buy back in—some to cover losses, others to avoid liquidation. That created a classic short squeeze, sending the price soaring.
Short squeezes are not uncommon in cryptocurrency markets, where thin liquidity and speculative trading strategies can lead to sudden and severe price reversals. In traditional financial markets, while less common, these events do occur. In 2008, shares of German automaker Volkswagen more than quadrupled in two days, experiencing a massive short squeeze.
ALPACA’s Token Burns Aid Rise
Compounding the squeeze is ALPACA’s ongoing token burn program. The platform has conducted over 200 weekly buyback-and-burn transactions, permanently removing approximately 35 million tokens—about 18.6% of the total supply—from circulation.
Reduced token availability can drive prices higher when demand remains steady or increases. ALPACA’s price has since plunged to now trade at around $0.66 per token. The token is notably still down more than 92% from its all-time high, which was above $8.5, seen shortly after its launch.
Other cryptocurrencies have also seen their prices heavily influenced by Binance listings and delistings. AI agent token VIRTUAL, for example, saw a major price rise after being listed on the U.S. arm of the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.US. Another altcoin, SIGN, saw similar performance.
